Just when he thought he was out, they pull him back in!
Ryan Nase was perfectly happy being a retired football coach.
Nase, a 2002 graduate of Father Judge High School, has been coaching since he got out of college.
He was an assistant coach at Judge, he was an assistant coach at Penn Charter, then he took over the Cheltenham High School job and in three seasons, took a struggling program to the state championship game. He also had a brief stop at Northeast in 2023, before stepping down for personal reasons.
A teacher in the Cheltenham School District and father of three, Nase still loved football, but was starting to enjoy his days as a retired football coach.
Until his alma mater had a job opening.
Now, Nase is back in the game and he couldn’t be more excited about becoming the head football coach at Father Judge.
“The phrase ‘dream job’ gets thrown around a lot, but for me, this is definitely a dream job,” Nase said. “I had a couple different coaching experiences and they were all great, but I thought I was done coaching. There was only one place that could bring me out of retirement and that was Father Judge.”
There are many reasons this is the perfect job for Nase, who takes over for Frank McArdle, who resigned after the season ended.
The biggest of which is it’s his home.
Nase played at Judge, developed a lot of friendships through the community, and he loves representing the school, which he has proudly done since entering the school as a freshman.
It also means a lot because his new boss is the same man he’s turned to for advice his entire life.
Tom Coyle, who was the football coach at Judge when Nase was a player, returned this year as the school’s athletic director.
When it comes to having a great mentor, Nase believes he has the best.
“I joked before that when I was at Cheltenham, I annoyed him more than he wanted me to because he was coaching and I was asking him for advice,” Nase said. “That’s only going to be worse now! It’s great to have a guy like him at the school. Even with the entire interview process for the job, the committee he put together was full of football guys that understood the experience. It was a great committee and it’s a perfect example of how Coach Coyle does things.”
Nase is excited to get started.
But there is a lot of work to do.
Judge hasn’t been a bad football team, but it’s been a while since they were a Catholic League powerhouse.
Last year Judge went 3-8, 0-5 in the Catholic League Red Division. However, that Red Division included La Salle, which was one of the top teams in the state all year. It also included St. Joe’s Prep, the 6A state champion, Roman Catholic, the 5A runner-up, and Bonner-Prendergast, which won the 4A state championship.
There weren’t a lot of layups on the Crusaders schedule and Nase is excited about the challenges that are ahead.
But that’s not the first step.
“My head isn’t at winning yet, it’s making an impact on the players and students’ lives, starting the foundation of the program and making Father Judge the best Father Judge it can be,” Nase said. “Once we feel comfortable with the fact that we’re getting better, then I’ll worry about extra stuff.
“The Catholic League is awesome because from my experience you beat each other up all year, compete with one another and once you get out of the PCL, there’s a bond and a support you have. I played with multiple PCL guys, Joe McCourt is one of my friends to this day, he was my host at Lafayette, and when I got there, there was the natural connection of Catholic League guys. We have a bond in faith and sports and it’s one of the very special things about coaching in the Catholic League.”
Nase is still busy building his staff, though he has some commitments from guys, including Judge and North Catholic grads. He said it’s very important to have the Salesian attitude present on the coaching staff.
He’s also excited because his family is excited.
His wife, a proud Wood grad, was just as excited for her husband as the coach was.
“I was nervous to ask my wife about the job, but she was more excited than I was,” Nase said. “She knows what Judge means to me, what it means to the Northeast Philly community. My son will attend Judge in a few years, he made that clear even before I was there. She’s on board and my son is through the roof. My son’s twin sister isn’t too excited. She’s not a football fan, but my youngest hopes she can be a cheerleader on the sideline.”
That works.
That’s exactly what Nase wants to bring to Judge.
“Northeast Philly is a great community and Father Judge is a very important part of the community,” Nase said. “This is a dream job. I know how important Judge was to me. I’m excited about getting started.”
